Women's Soccer

Bears and Columbia Play to 0-0 Stalemate

PROVIDENCE, RI - The Brown women's soccer team (4-3-3, 0-1-1) battled Columbia (3-4-3, 1-0-1) to a 0-0 double overtime tie in an Ivy League contest on Friday evening at Stevenson Field. The tie marks the fifth time in the past six years that the Bears and the Lions have gone to double overtime. In 2001, Brown lost to the Lions, 1-0. In 2002, the two teams played to a 2-2 tie, while Brown earned a 3-2 victory in 2003. In 2004, the Bears posted a 4-2 win in the one game since 2001 that did not need double overtime to be decided. Last year, Columbia earned a 3-2 win in double overtime, scoring the winning goal in the 103rd minute.

Brown controlled the pace of play early on, earning an 8-3 advantage in shots during the first half. However, the Lions nearly took a 1-0 lead with two great scoring chances in a two-minute span less than 10 minutes into the game. The first came at 5:20 when senior Shannon Munoz broke in behind the defense and had just freshman goalie Brenna Hogue (Concord, CA) to beat. However, Hogue was in perfect position, stopping the shot from point-blank range, and keeping the Lions off the board.

Just 2:04 later, at 7:24, Munoz broke in alone again, but this time, sophomore Julie Wu (Tiburon, CA) raced back to meet Munoz, ending the threat with a strong slide-tackle.

Play continued in the midfield, with neither team able to break the 0-0 draw. The Bears' best chance of the opening 45:00 came at 30:21 when junior Kerrilynn Carney's (North Smithfield, RI) free-kick from 35 yards out had Columbia goalie Allison Vespa beat, but it nailed the crossbar.

Brown again dominated the second half, firing 15 shots, including seven on goal, to Columbia's five, but solid defense at both ends of the field kept the ball out of the net for both teams. With under a minute to play, the Bears had another scoring opportunity, but, after a Columbia defender blocked a shot by junior Mollie Mattuchio (Pepperell, MA), the Lions countered with just 30 seconds left. However, junior Julia Shapira (Los Angeles, CA) raced back to cut off her player and end the scoring threat as the two teams headed for overtime, Brown's third overtime contest of the season.

Both teams took three shots during overtime, but all three of Columbia's were on net, and Hogue was up to the task. Bailey Schroeder fired a high shot at 96:37, and it appeared headed for the back of the net, but Hogue jumped up and just got a piece of the ball, deflecting it away from the goal to keep Brown alive. Less than a minute later, Hogue made a great stop on Aubrey Medal's attempt.

Hogue, who finished the game with a career-high seven saves, made her final stop at 104:00, stoning Munoz in a one-on-one situation. Vespa notched 10 saves in net for the Lions, including seven in the second half. The Bears return to action on Sunday afternoon when they host Army in a 1:00 non-league contest at Stevenson Field.